Collapsible tube squeezer



June 21, 1966 c. B. WATSON. JR

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE SQUEEZER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 15, 1963 INVENTOR. [bflMEZ/VJ A9. Ill 47004, J11 BY W, mg, 4 244% AWOAWEKY C. B. WATSON. JR

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE SQUEEZER June 21, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 15, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 June 21, 1966 c. B. WATSON. JR

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE SQUEEZER Filed July 15, 1963 177 LLLLl/I/l l/ United" States Patent 3,257,037 COLLAPSIBLE TUBE SQUEEZER Cornelius B. Watson, Jr., P.O. Box 832, Madison, Conn.

Filed July 15, 1963, Ser. No. 294,905 18 Claims. (Cl. 222-96) This invention relates to a device for squeezing collapsible tubes for the purpose of dispensing the contents of the tube, and deals more particularly with such devices which may be manually operated to dispense portions of the tube contents.

The type of tube with which the device of the present invention is intended to be used is the collapsible tube commonly used for containing toothpaste, shaving cream, soap, paints, glue, and many other materials having a pasty or creamy consistency. The device illustrated and described in detail herein is, in fact, intended primarily as a bathroom accessory for facilitating the dispensing of toothpaste, shaving cream and other toilet materials, but it is to be understood that there is no intention to so limit the invention and that it may in many instances be used to advantage outside of the bathroom in the dispensing of many different items.

The general object of this invention is to provide a tube squeezer which may be easily operated by one hand to dispense a desired quantity of material from a collapsible tube and which squeezer also operates in an efficient manner to more completely empty a collapsible tube than is generally possible when squeezing by hand.

The supreme objective of the present invention, and its chief novelty, is to provide a tube squeezer which is rugged, simple in construction, comprised of few parts and capable of being manufactured at relatively low cost by mass production techniques. Without simplicity in all essential features, such a device would be of little value. The claims stated herein are directed toward a tested, highly eflicient tube squeezer of extreme simplicity.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tube squeezer which is of relatively small size, being little larger than the largest tube with which it is to be used, and which may be adapted either for fixed mounting on a Wall or other support or used in an unmounted condition in which latter casev it is adapted to be picked up and operated by one hand of a user.

A further object of this invention is to provide a tube squeezer which may be used with various different size tubes and wherein the removal of empty tubes and the replacement of full tubes is easily accomplished.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a tube squeezer of the above character which includes an oscillatable operating handle and further including means for providing an indication when the tube in the device is empty or almost empty, said latter indicating means being either in the nature of a means for providing a visual indication or of a means for preventing further operation of the operating handle, or both.

Another object of this invention is to provide a tube squeezer of the foregoing character including means for adjusting the amount of material dispensed from the tube with each stroke of the operating handle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tube squeezer of the foregoing character which includes a closure element movable in synchronism with the operating handle and which closure element is'operable to close the discharge nozzle of the tube to prevent leakage of material therefrom when the operating handle is in its normal or unoperated position.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description and from the drawings forming a part hereof.

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The drawings show preferred embodiments of the invention and such embodiments will be described, but it will be understood that various changes mayv be made from the constructions disclosed, and that the drawings and description are not to be construed as defining or limiting the scope of the invention, the claims forming a part of this specification being relied upon for that purpose.

Of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a tube squeezer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the tube squeezer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational View of the tube squeezer of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevational view generally similar to FIG. 3 but showing the tube squeezer of FIG. 1 with the closure plate removed.

FIG. 5 is a view generally similar to FIG. 2 but showing the tube squeezer of FIG. 1 with the closure plate removed and the tube partially inserted in the device, part of one side wall of the device being shown broken away to reveal the structure of the movable squeezer assembly.

FIG. 6 is a vertical section-a1 view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 4 and showing the device of FIG. 1 with the tube removed therefrom.

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the movable tube squeezer assembly employed in the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4 and showing the movable tube squeezer assembly after part of the contents of the tube have been squeezed therefrom.

FIG. 11 is arfragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 12-12 of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary sectional View generally similar to FIG. 12 but showing an alternative form of biasing -means for the operating handle and a means for preventing further operation of said handle after the tube is completely or almost completely empty.

Turning now to the drawings and first referring particularly to FIGS. 1 through 7, a tube squeezer embodying the present invention is'shown to comprise in general a case 20 for receiving and holding a tube to be squeezed, a squeezer assembly 22 located within and'movable longitudinally of the case 20 and an opera-ting mechanism 24 adapted for operation by the hand of a user for the purpose of advancing the squeezer assembly 22 forwardly relative to the case.

The case 20 maybe made from various dilferent materials and may take various different forms, but in the illustrated case is shownto be made from a plastic material and to comprise a body' including a first generally rectangular side wall 26 and two other generally rectangular and narrower side walls 28, 28 which extend in one direction from the two longer edges of the first wall 26. As shown best in FIGS. 4 and 5, the body of the case further includes a rear wall 30 which is fixed relative to the walls 26 and 28, 28 at the rear ends of the latter as shown. Cooperating with the bodyof the case is a generally rectangular closure plate 32 which is separate from the body and which normally extends between the free longitudinal edges of the two side walls 28, 28 toclose the case body. The closure plate 32 is restrained against outward movement away from the side wall 26, or to the 3 right in FIG. 6, by guide flanges 34, 34 on said free longi-tudinal edges of said side walls 28, 28, each of which flanges extends laterally from its associated side wall 28 toward the other side wall 28 as shown best in FIGS. 3 and 4. The normal or closed position of the closure plate 32 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 and it is normally retained in this position by a releasable holding means which in the present illustration consists of a screw 36 passing through an opening in the rear end of the closure plate and threadably received in a threaded opening in the rear wall 30. As shown in FIG. 3, the screw 36 is provided with a winged head to enable the same to be readily removed and replaced manually by the user. When the screw 36 is removed from the rear wall 30, the closure plate 32 may be removed from the body of the case by sliding the same longitudinally of the case or downwardly in FIGS. 3 and 6. For the purpose of aiding in the re-.

moval or replacement of the closure plate, the latter is provided with a finger grip 38 on its outer surface.

The forward end of the case body is closed by a removable end cap 40 which includes a recess 42 adapted to receive the forward end of a tube to be squeezed and which also includes an aperture 44 adapted to accommodate the discharge nozzle of the tube. In the drawings the tube to be squeezed is shown at 46 and its discharge nozzle at 48. As will be evident from FIG. 4, the forward wall of the recess 42 engages the forward end of the tube 46 to prevent the tube from moving forwardly relative to the case beyond the illustrated position of FIG. 4. The end cap 40 is in turn restrained against forward move- 7 merit relative to the case body by two outwardly extending flanges 50, 50 on the end cap which cooperate as shown in FIG. 4 with two inwardly extending flanges 52, 52 on the forward ends of the side walls 28, 28. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper or forward end portion of the closure plate normally overlies a portion of the end cap 42 to prevent the same from being removed from the case. However, after the closure plate is removed from the case, the end cap 40 may also be removed by being moved outwardly from the case in the direction away from the side wall 26, or to the right in FIG. 6. It will therefore be seen that the screw 36 not only serves to hold in place the closure plate 32, but through the closure plate 32 also serves indirectly to hold in place the end cap 40. The disassembly of the device for the purpose of removing or inserting collapsible tubes is thereby facilitated insofar as only one holding means need be released to effect such disassembly.

When the closure plate 32 is in its normal or closed positive relative to the body of the case, it forms a side wall for the case and it, together withthe walls 26 and 28, 28, defines a tube-receiving chamber of rectangular transverse cross-sectional shape. As will be more evident hereinafter, the interior surfaces of these walls also serve to guide the squeezer assembly 22 and to restrain the same to substantially rectilinear sliding movement relative to to the case, the squeezer assembly having a transverse cross-sectional shape closely conforming to that of said side walls.

It should also be noted at this point that the operating mechanism 24-includes a shaft which is disposed transversely of the case 20 near the forward end of the latter. This shaft is supported for rotation relative to the case about its central axis by two ears 56, 56 each of which extends outwardly from an associated one of the side walls 28, 28 beyond the plane of the wall 26. Each of these ears is substantially thicker than the walls 28, 28 and on its inner surface is provided with a blind cylindrical opening or recess for rotatably supporting the associated end portions of the shaft 54 as shown in FIG. 8. It should also be noted that in the vicinity of the shaft 54 the case includes a transparent window 57 which, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, is generally semi-cylindrical in shape and extends from one ear 56 a considerable distance transversely of the case, terminating short of the other ear to tube.

4 provide a gap accommodating other parts of the operating mechanism hereinafter described.

Turning now to the squeezer assembly, reference is made to FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10 for a detailed description of this part of the illustrated device. As shown in these figures, the squeezer assembly comprises a block 58 I which may be made from metal, plastic or similar material either as a monolithic structure, as by casting or molding or machining from a single workpiece, or as a part made up from various smaller parts glued, welded or otherwise fastened together into a unitary structure. For the purpose of illustration, the complete squeezer block 58 is shown in FIG. 9 to comprise a single large block 60 and a substantially smaller block 62. Between the large block 60 and the small block 62 is one end portion of a flexible ribbon 64 which is used to pull the block 58 forwardly of the case during a tube squeezing operation. The block 60, the ribbon 64 and the block 62 are glued or otherwise secured together to fix the ribbon relative to the block. The transverse cross-sectional shape of the complete block 58, as made up of the smaller blocks 60 and 62, is substantially rectangular and conforms substantially :to the rectangle enclosed by the side walls of the case except for one corner of the block being cut away as indicated generally at 66 to prevent interference with the ratchet wheel and other parts of the operating mechanism hereinafter described when the block is positioned close to the forward end of the case.

The block 60 includes an opening 68 extending therethrough in a direction longitudinally of the case 20 for the purpose of receiving the tube 46. Also included in the block 60 are two recesses 70 and 72 which extend transversely of the block and communicate with the opening 68. Received in the cavities 70 and 72 are two pressure rollers 74 and 76, respectively, each of these rollers being of such diameter as to protrude some distance into the opening 68. The two rollers 74 and 76 serve as pressure means for applying squeezing pressure to the tube and it is a feature of the present invention that at least one of these rollers is so arranged and supported by the squeezer block as to be wedged inwardly toward the other roller as a result of rearwardly directed forces applied thereto by the tube as the squeezing assembly is moved forwardly relative to the tube, thereby increasing the squeezing pressure applied to the tube and producing a more effective squeezing action. Although both rollers may, if desired,'be so arranged for wedging movement, in the present illustration only one such roller, the roller 76, is adapted for such movement.

Considering first the pressure roller 74, the recess 70 which receives this roller includes a transversely extending fiat surface 78 and a longitudinally extending flat surface 80 both of which surfaces engage the roller 74 during operation of the device and respectively react rearward and lateral forces applied to the roller by the The cavity 72 which receives the pressure roller 76, on the other hand, includes a surface 82 inclined relative to the longitudinal axis of the case, and the roller 76 during operation of the device engages only this surface of the squeezer assembly block. =From FIG. 10 it will be evident that due to the inclination of the surface 82, a generally rearwardly directed force onthe roller 76 tending to urge the same rearwardly and produced by the resistance to foward motion exerted on the rollers by the tube will also produce a laterally directely force on the roller, tending to urge the same inwardly toward the opposite roller 74 with the result that the tube is tightly squeezed between the two rollers.

The rollers 74 and 76 may directly contact the sides of the tube to be squeezed, however, it is preferred to include in the squeezer assembly t'wo slabs 84, 84 which extend longitudinally of the case 20 and which are adapted to receive therebetween the collapsible tube so that when the tube is in place in the case, each pressure roller engages a respective one of the slabs 84, 84 rather than engaging the tube directly. The slabs 84, 84 are made of a relatively thin resilient material so as to be resiliently flexible in the longitudinal direction and capable of bending along transversal lines at the portions of the slabs engaged by said rollers. 'Resin impregnated fabric or thin sheets of spring metal are satisfactory for the slabs 84, 84. The use of the slabs 84, 84 allows the squeezer assembly to move smoothly along the length of the tube and aids in maintaining the angle at which the sides of tube engage or enter the rollers at a desirable or optimum value so that the tube is properly fed into the squeezer assembly as it moves forwardly relative to the tube. At their rear ends, the two slabs S4, 84 are joined by a suitable means such as a rivet 86.

As mentioned previously, the operating mechanism 24 for movnng the squeezer assembly 22 longitudinally or forwardly relative to the case 20 includes the shaft 54 'which is rotatably supported relative to the case by the cars 56, 56. As shown best in FIGS. 6, 8, ll and 12, an operating handle 88 is provided and is loosely angularly received on the shaft 54. As best shown in FIG. 8, the handle 88 includes a first portion 87 which is received by the shaft 54 and disposed in a plane perpendicular to the shaft 54 and a second portion 89 which extends generally perpendicular to the first portion and which in addition to providing a convenient wide surface for engagement with the thumb or finger of a user, also serves to cover or conceal other parts of the operating mechanism. The handle 88 extends generally rearwardly and outwardly from the wall 26 of the body 20. Adjacent the handle is a ratchet Wheel 90 which is angularly fixed to the shaft 54 and which cooperates with a first or driving pawl 92 and with a second or holding pawl 94. The operating handle 88 is oscillatable between two end positions about the axis of the shaft as shown, for example, by the broken and solid lines of FIG. 2. A tension spring 96 connected between the side wall 26 and the handle 88, as shown best in FIG. 11, biases the handle 88 to the end position shown in FIG. 6 and by the solid lines of FIG. 2. Fixed to the handle 88 is a closure element in the form of an arm 91 which extends forwardly and inwardly over the forward end of the case and which includes a flat surface 93 so arranged as to normally engage and close the discharge nozzle 48 of the tube to prevent the escape of material therefrom, the

arm being swung away from the nozzle to allow the discharge of material when the handle is moved inwardly or toward the case. The arm 91 is secured to the handle 88 by a single screw 95 passing through the arm and threaded into the handle as shown best in FIGS. 1 and 2. By loosening the screw 95, the arm 91 may be removed from the handle to allow the user to substitute the conventional screw cap on the nozzle 48 as the closure element.

The driving pawl 92 is fixed to the undersurface of the second portion 89 of the handle 88 and is adapted for pivotal movement relative to the handle about a transverse axis indicated at 98. A spring 109 connected between the pawl 92 and the handle portion 89 biases the pawl toward engagement with the ratchet wheel as shown in FIG. 6. arm 102 which may be manipulated by the finger of a user to swing the pawl against the bias of the spring, or clockwise in FIG. 6, 'to remove the pawl from engagement with the ratchet wheel when necessary for inserting a tube in the device as hereinafter described.

The holding pawl 94 comprises an elongated member and at the end remote from the ratchet wheel is loosely connected with the end cap 42 as shown in FIG. 6 so as to allow the same to be pivotally moved relative to the end cap to move the active end of the pawl toward or away from the ratchet wheel. Intermediate the ends of the pawl 94 is a pin 104 which extends through the pawl and which is fixed relative to. the end cap 42. Received on the pin164 and between the pawl and the Included on the pawl 92 is a small end cap is a compression spring 106 which urges the active end of the pawl toward the ratchet wheel.

From the foregoing description, and from FIG. 6, it will be understood that the arrangement of the ratchet wheel and of the pawls 92 and 94 is such that as the operating handle 88 is moved inwardly toward the case from the position shown in FIG. 6, the driving pawl 92 will operate to rotate the ratchet wheel and the shaft 54. When the operating handle is moved in the opposite direction or is stationary, the holding pawl 94 will operate through engagement with one of the teeth on the ratchet wheel to hold the ratchet wheel against retrograde movement. The ribbon 64 which is connected at one end to the squeezer assembly block 58 at its other end is fixed relative to the shaft 54 so that as the shaft 54 is rotated about its axis, the ribbon is wound thereon, as will be evident from FIG. 6, to pull the squeezer assembly longitudinally of the base 20 and forwardly relative to the tube contained within the case.

Preferably, the amount by which the squeezer assembly is moved with each operation or stroke of the operating handle 88 is such as to dispense from the tube a sufficient quantity of material as needed for a given purpose. For example, if the tube with which the device is used is a tooth paste tube, it is desirable that each stroke of the operating handle effect the dispensing from the tube of a sufficient quantity of toothpaste to fill a brush. The amount of material dispensed depends among other things on the degree of rotation of the shaft 54 effected by each operation of the operating handle and in order to allow adjustment of the amount of material dispensed, the operating handle includes an adjusting screw 107 of the set screw variety which is received in a threaded opening in the handle portion 87 and which extends inwardly beyond the handle so as to be engageable with the wall 26 when the handle is moved inwardly toward the latter wall to limit said latter movement. The adjusting screw is readily adjusted by means of a screw driver applied to the outer end of the same to move the same toward or away from the wall 26 and to thereby vary the movement of the shaft 54 produced by each stroke of the handle.

Attention is now directed to the manner in which collapsible tubes are removed from and placed into the case 20. Assume first that the tube in the case has been emptied of its contents and that a new tube is to be substituted for the empty tube. The empty condition of the old tube will correspond to the squeezer assembly 22 having been moved as far as it will go toward the forward end of the case 20. To effect removal of the old tube, a screw 36 is first threaded from the case and the closure plate 32 thereafter removed from the case body by grasping the finger piece 38 and moving the same rearwa-rdly. After the closure plate is removed, the holding pawl 94 is Suficiently loose from engagement with the ratchet 90 so that the ratchet is now held against retrograde movement only by the driving pawl 92. This driving pawl is then released from engagement with the ratchet 90 by applying finger pressure to the small arm 102, and at the same time the squeezer assembly is pulled with the other hand of the user to the rear end of the case, the shaft 54 being free at this time to rotate in reverse direction to allow unwinding of the ribbon 64 therefrom. The discharge nozzle 48 or the end cap 40 may then be grasped and pulled outwardly from the case body to effect removal of the tube and the end cap. The final motion to remove the tube is to lift it out of the squeezer assembly which allows easy release of the tube due to forward motion of the tube which tends to open the gap between rollers 74 and 76. A new tube may then be inserted into the squeezer assembly, which squeezer assembly in its rearmost position permits insertion of the largest-sized tube for which the device is designed.

One of the features of the invention is that the device may be used with various different sizes of tubes, and when a tube of smaller length is to be inserted in the device, the best procedure to follow is to move the squeezer assembly rearwardly less than the full alllowable distance and only by a distance sufficient to accommodate the smaller tube, thereby eliminating the need for taking up much slack in the ribbon by manipulation of the operating handle 88 after the tube is inserted in the device. In any event, after the movement of the squeezer assembly to the desired rearward position, the two guide slabs 84,

-84 are pulled outwardly from the body of the case, as shown in FIG. 5, and the new full tube inserted therebetween so that the flattened bottom portion of the tube passes between thetwo pressure rollers with the crimped end portion of the tube being located as shown in FIG. rearwardly of the pressure rollers. In order that the end portion of the tube may pass between the two rollers during its insertion in the squeezer assembly, the two rollers must be slightly separated from each other. Usually, this spreading occurs automatically and no difficulty is encountered in inserting the tube. If some resistance to insertion of the tube is met, however, spreading of the rollers can be facilitated by slightly jogging the device or turning the device upside down during the insertion process to cause the pressure. roller 76 to move toward the forward end of its recess and therefore away from the other roller 74.

After the new tube is properly inserted in the squeezer assembly and between the pressure rollers, the end cap is placed over the forward end thereof and the end cap, the tube, and the two guide slabs are pushed inwardly into the body of the case. Thereafter, the closure plate 32 is slid into place and the holding screw 36 replaced. The operating handle is then oscillated several times to move the squeezer assembly forwardly and to in turn push forwardly on the tube until the same seats firmly against the end cap. Thereafter, further operation of the operating handle will cause dispensing of the material from the tube in the desired manner.

At this point it should be noted that the ribbon 64 as it is wound on the shaft 54 may be viewed through the transparent window and therefore may be marked to indicate to the user the present location of the squeezer assembly and therefore the degree of exhaustion of the tube in the case. For example, in FIG. 9 the ribbon 64 is shown to include a red mark 109 located near the squeezer assembly 22 so that the red mark will appear on the shaft 54 when the squeezer assembly is at or near its forwardmost position corresponding to the tube being completely empty. This mark therefore indicates to the user the need for replacing the tube in the squeezing device and warns against further operation of the operating handle which might possibly cause damage to the device.

FIG. 13 is a figure generally similar to FIG. 12 but shows an alternative form of the operating mechanism which includes a means for physically preventing operation of the operating handle after the squeezer assembly is moved to a forward position corresponding to an empty condition of the tube. In this embodiment, the handle indicated at 88a is or may be identical with the handle 88 except for being shaped to form a downwardly facing abutment surface 110. Also, the handle 88a instead of being biased to its normal position by a coil tension spring is biased by a torsion spring 112 having a coiled portion surrounding the shaft 54 and two arms one of which engages the case wall 26 and the other one of which engages the operating handle 88a as shown in FIG. 13. The squeezer assembly block employed with the operating mechanism of FIG. 13 is indicated at 114 and is generally FIG. 13, the parts are shown in the positions occupied prior to the last allowable stroke of the operating handle. If the handle is now operated by moving the same clockwise or toward the case, the block 114 will be raised and held in its raised position by the ratchet 90. At the same time the abutment surface 115 will engage the abutment surface and prevent the handle from returning to its released position, thereby making impossible further operation of the handle.

It should be noted that the arm 91 with the closure cap 93, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, is intended as an easily detachably accessory. There would be some users who would prefer the conventional screw cap commonly furnished with the collapsible tube, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. It is believed that individual users would prefer to determine whether their purposes were best served by attaching arm 91 with closure cap, or by using the conventional screw cap. Other designs of a synchronized closure are readily imagined, as for instance, the sliding blade type of closure as used in the standard syrup jug.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a tube squeezing device, the combination comprising a squeezer assembly, and means for moving said squeezer assembly longitudinally of a tube to be squeezed, said squeezer assembly including a block movable longitudinally of said tube, a first pressure means carried by said block and extending transversely of said tube to apply pressure to one side of said tube, and a second pressure means in the form of an elongated member received in said block and extending transversely of said tube to apply pressure to the other side of said tube at a location generally opposite to said first pressure means, said block including a transversely extending cavity which receives said elongated member, said cavity defining a surface extending transversely of said tube and inclined longitudinally of said'tube and engageable with said elongated member at various points along its length for opposing forces applied to said member by said tube which forces are directed generally toward the rear end of said tube, said inclined surface being inclined in such a direction that as said member is moved relative to said block in the direction toward the rear end of said tube it is cammed inwardly toward said first pressure means by said inclined surface.

2. In a'tube squeezing device, the combination comprising a case adapted to receive a tube to be squeezed, a squeezer assembly within said case, and means for moving said squeezer assembly relative to said case longitudinally of a tube to be squeezed, said squeezer assembly including a block movable longitudinally of said case and having an opening extending therethrough longitudinally of said case for receiving said tube, said block further including two cavities located respectively on opposite sides of said opening and each extending transversely of said case and communicating with said opening, and two generally cylindrical pressure rollers each orientated with its longitudinal axis extending transversely of said case and each loosely received in a respective one of said cavities, each of. said pressure rollers being of such a diameter as to extend from its cavity into said opening, at least one of said cavities having an inclined bearing surface which is engageable with the roller received in said cavity as said block is moved toward the forward end of a collapsible tube inserted in said opening and between said pressure rollers, said inclined surface being inclined in such a direction that as the associated roller is forced rearwardly relative to said block it is also moved toward the other one of said rollers.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 further characterized by two elongated and longitudinally flexible slabs located within said case and extending through said opening in said block and between said pressure rollers, said slabs being disposed longitudinally of said case and adapted to receive said tube therebetween so that a respective one of said slabs is interposed between said tube and each of said two pressure rollers.

4. The combination defined in claim 2 further characterized by said case having walls the interior surfaces of which enclose a transverse area of substantially rectangular cross section, and said squeezer assembly block having a transverse cross-sectional shape closely conforming to that enclosed by said interior wall surface so as to be guided by said case walls for rectilinear sliding movement longitudinally of said case.

5. The combination defined in claim 2 further characterized by said means for moving said squeezer assembly including a shaft supported for rotation about an axis .located near the forward end of said case and extending transversely of said case, an operating handle oscillatable relative to said case about a transverse axis between two end positions, a ratchet mechanism drivingly connecting said handle with said shaft for causing said shaft to be rotated in one direction when said handle is moved in one direction and for preventing retrograde movement of said shaft when said handle is moved in the opposite direction and when said handle is stationary, and a ribbon having one end fixed to said shaft and its other end fixed to said block and arranged to be wound on said shaft as the latter is rotated to pull said block forwardly relative to said case.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 further characterized by said shaft being arranged so that the outer layer of the coil of ribbon wound thereon is visible to the user, and said ribbon having an indicator mark thereon so located as to appear on said shaft when said squeezer assembly is at a given location relative to said tube.

7. The combination defined in claim 6 further characterized by said shaft vbeing located substantially within said case and said case including a transparent window at the location of said shaft so at least a portion of the ribbon wound thereon may be viewed by the user.

8. The combination defined in claim 5 further characterized by said operating handle being loosely angularly received on said shaft, and a removable forward end cap for said case, said.ratchet mechanism including a ratchet wheel angularly fixed to said shaft, a driving pawl carried by said operating handle and biased toward engagement with said ratchet, and a holding pawl carried by said end cap and biased toward engagement with said ratchet, said driving pawl including an arm which is operable by the finger of the user to move the same against its bias and out of engagement with said ratchet and said holding pawl being moved out of engagement with said ratchet when said end cap is removed from said case.

9. The combination defined in claim 8.further characterized by said case including a body having a first gen erally rectangular side wall and two other generally rectangular side walls extending in the same direction respectively from the two longer edges of said first wall, a rear wall connected with said first side wall and said two other side walls at the rear ends of the latter, a generally rectangular closure plate separate from said body and adapted to be normally disposed between the free edges of said two other side walls, said two other side walls having means along their free edges for retraining movement of said closure plate outwardly away from said first wall while permitting said closure plate to be moved longitudinally of said bodyto remove the same from its normal' position, means for holding said closure in its normal position, and means on the forward ends of said two other side walls for restraining movement of said end cap forwardly relative to said body while permitting said end cap to be moved outwardly away from said first wall to remove the same from said body, said closure plate when in its normal position including a portion thereof which is engageable with a portion of said end cap to restrain out-ward movement of the latter.

10. The combination defined in claim 5 further characterized by a spring arranged to bias said handle away from said case and toward one of its end positions, said ratchet mechanism being effective to rotate said shaft If when said handle is moved in the opposite direction toward said case, and means providing an abutment on said handle which abutment is arranged to engage said squeezer assembly block and to preventfurther movement of said handle after said block is moved to a predetermined location at the forward end of said case.

11'. The combination defined in claim 5 further char-acterized by a spring arranged to bias said handle away from said .case and toward one of its end positions, and an adjusting screw threadably received in said operating handle and having one end which is engageable with said case to limit the movement of said handle in the opposite direction toward said case, thus providing means to adjust the length of stroke of said handle.

12. The combination defined in claim 5 further characterized by a removable forward end cap for said case which end cap includes an aperture through which the discharge nozzle of a tube to be squeezed extends when said tube is received in said case, means for biasing said operating handle toward one of its end positions,- and a removable arm fixed relative to said operating handle and having a cap surface thereon arranged to engage and close the end of said discharge nozzle when said handle is in said one position and to be spaced from said nozzle when said handle is in the other of its end positions.

13. In a tube squeezing device, the combination cornprising, a case adapted to receive a tube to be squeezed, a

squeezer assembly within said case and movable longitudinally of said case to squeeze a tube such as aforesaid, a shaft supported for rotation about an axis located near the forward endof said case and extending transversely of said case, an operating handle oscillatable relative to said case about a transverse axis between two end positions, a ratchet mechanism drivingly connecting said handle with said shaft for causing said shaft to be rotated in one direction when said handle is moved in one direction and for preventing retrograde movement of said shaft when said handle is moved in the opposite direction and when said handle is stationary, a ribbon having one end fixed to said shaft and its other end fixed to said squeezer assembly :and arranged to be wound on said shaft as the latter isrotated to pull said squeezer assembly forward relative to said case, a spring arranged to bias said handle away from said case and toward one of its end positions, said ratchet mechanism being effective to rotate said shaft when said handle is moved in the opposite direction toward said case, and means providing an abutment on saidhandle which abutment is arranged to engage said squeezer assembly and to prevent further operation of said handle after said squeezer assembly is moved to a predetermined location at the forward end of said case.

14. In a tube squeezing device, the combination comprising, a case adapted to receive a collapsible tube to be squeezed, a squeezer assembly within said case and movable longitudinally of said case to squeeze a tube such as aforesaid, a shaft supported for rotation about an axis located near the forward end of said case and extending transversely of said case, a ribbon having one end fixed to said shaft and its other end fixed to said squeezer assembly and arranged to be wound on said shaft as the latter is rotated to pull said squeezer assembly forwardly relative to said case, an operating handle loosely angularly received on said shaft and oscillatable relative to said case about the axis of said shaft between two-end positions, a removable forward end cap for said case, a ratchet wheel angularly fixed to said shaft, a driving pawl carried by said operating handle and biased toward engagement with said ratchet, and a holding pawl carried by said end cap and biased toward engagement with said ratchet, said driving pawl including means manipulatable by the finger of the user to move the same against its bias and out of engagement with said ratchet wheel andsaid holding pawl being moved out of engagement with said ratchet wheel when said end cap-is moved from said case.

15. In a tube squeezing device, the combination of a case adapted to receive a collapsible tube to be squeezed, a squeezer assembly adapted to slide within said case and to be guided directionally by the interior Walls of said case to which said assembly conforms substantially in its cross-sectional shape, two pressure means within said squeezer assembly adapted to apply queezing pressures against opposite sides of such tube when said squeezer assembly is moved longitudinally of said case, means for moving said squeezer assembly longitudinally of said case including an oscillatable operating handle so arranged that a person may pick up said device and operate said handle with one hand, two flexible slabs Within said case interposed alongside of such tube on each side thereof between said pressure means and such tube, and a set screw threadably received in said handle and so located that upon rotation of said set screw the lower end thereof may be extended below the undersurface of said handle to engage said case at any desired position of said handle thereby enabling the operator to adjust the length of the stroke of said handle.

16. In a tube squeezing device, the combination of a case adapted to receive a collapsible tube to be squeezed, a squeezer assembly adapted to slide within said case and to be guided directionally by the interior walls of said case to which said assembly conforms substantially in its cross-sectional shape, two pressure means within said squeezer assembly adapted to apply squeezing pressures against opposite sides of such tube when said squeezer assembly is moved longitudinally of said case, means for moving said squeezer assembly longitudinally of said case including an oscillatable operating handle so arranged that a person may pick up said device and operate said handle with one hand, and a closure accessory releasably connected and disconnected to said oscillatable handle by means of a single fastening device and which closure accessory when connected with said handle is moved between opened and closed positions relative to the mouth of such tube as said handle is moved relative to said case and in such a manner that said mouth is closed when said handle is in its released position and opened when said handle is in an operated position thereby enabling the operator at his option to utilize said closure accessory or to utilize the customary screw cap closure customarily furnished as part of such collapsible tube.

17. In a tube squeezing device the combination comprising a case adapted to receive a collapsible tube to be squeezed, a squeezer assembly movable longitudinally of said case and operable to. apply squeezing pressure to said tube as it is so moved, an oscillatable handle connected to said case, a shaft supported for rotation relative to said case about an axis fixed relative to said case and extending transversely thereof near the forward end of said tube, a ratchet and pawl mechanism for driving said shaft in one direction as a result of movement of said handle in one direction and for preventing retrograde movement of said shaft when said handle is moved in the opposite direction, and a flexible tension member having one end fixed to said squeezer assembly and its other end fixed to said shaft so as to be wound thereon to pull said squeezer assembly forwardly in response to oscillation of said handle, said ratchet mechanism including a ratchet wheel, a driving pawl on said handle engageable with said ratchet Wheel for moving the latter in response to movement .of said handle, and a holding pawl on said case engageable with said ratchet for preventing retrograde movement of said shaft, both of said pawls being movable from engagement with said ratchet Wheel to allow unwinding of said tension member for movement of said squeezer assembly to the rear of said case, said case including a forward end cap through which the spout of said tube projects and which forward end cap is removable from the remainder of said case, said holding pawl being mounted on said forward end cap so as to be moved from engagement with said ratchet wheel when said forward end cap is removed from said case.

18. The combination as defined in claim 17 further characterized by said case including an open side wall through which is a tube is moved' in being placed into or taken out of said squeezer, and a sliding closure plate for normally closing said open side wall, said closure plate in its closed position being engageable with said forward end cap to hold the latter in place.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 876,968 1/ 1908 James 222392 X 1,989,713 2/1935 Smith et al 22296 2,004,015 6/1935 Scott 22296 2,550,537 4/ 1951 Derrick 222102 FOREIGN PATENTS 602,639 5/ 1948 Great Britain.

LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Examiner.

NORMAN L. STACK, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A TUBE SQUEEZING DEVICE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A SQUEEZER ASSEMBLY, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SQUEEZER ASSEMBLY LONGITUDINALLY OF A TUBE TO BE SQUEEZED, SAID SQUEEZER ASSEMBLY INCLUDING A BLOCK MOVABLE LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID TUBE, A FIRST PRESSURE MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BLOCK AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID TUBE TO APPLY PRESSURE TO ONE SIDE OF SAID TUBE, A SECOND PRESSURE MEANS IN THE FORM OF AN ELONGATED MEMBER RECEIVED IN SAID BLOCK AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID TUBE TO APPLY PRESSURE TO THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID TUBE AT A LOCATION GENERALLY OPPOSITE TO SAID FIRST PRESSURE MEANS, SAID BLOCK INCLUDING A TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING CAVITY WHICH RECEIVES SAID ELONGATED MEMBER, SAID CAVITY DEFINING A SURFACE EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID TUBE AND INCLINED LONGITU- 